Advances in Green Building

Energy Conservation Codes Upgraded

03/14/2011 - Over the past few months, as the commercial construction sector shows signs of rebounding, there have been some major advances in green building policy and measurement. Luckily, they didn't require Congress to pay legislation, or they never would have passed.

The International Energy Conservation Code was upgraded for 2012 - it now requires homes and buildings to achieve energy savings 30% higher than the 2006 code. Since homes and buildings produce fully half of US greenhouse gases and use over 75% of the electricity generated from power plants, the new code is a very significant energy policy decision. In fact, the changes represent the largest single-step efficiency increase in the history of the national energy code.

About 500 state, county and city building and fire code officials from around the US voted to upgrade the code. The changes - which affect new construction and retrofits for homes, businesses, schools, churches and commercial buildings - were sought by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National Association of State Energy Officials, various governors, American Institute of Architects and the broad-based Energy Efficient Codes Coalition (EECC).

Local building codes across the country are based on these national model standards. The new codes address all aspects of residential and commercial building construction, laying a strong foundation for efficiency gains.

In the residential sector, improvements will: {continued}